Sunday, 15 December 2013

CFP: 1984: Freedom and Censorship in the Media – Where are We Now?

1984: FREEDOM AND CENSORSHIP IN THE MEDIA – WHERE ARE WE NOW?

University of Sunderland – London Campus (23rd-24th
April 2014)

In
response to an overwhelming international interest from academics, we
have decided to relocate the conference to the University of
Sunderland’s London
Campus. The conference will now take place on the 23rd and 24th
of April 2014. In light the
change in venue and dates, we are reopening the call for papers. The new
deadline for the submission of abstracts is January 17th
2014.

The conference aims to examine censorship both nationally and internationally and in all forms of media.

Selected papers will be published with a leading UK publisher in a forthcoming edited collection based on the event.

In
2013 has raised concerns about new censorship measures. Jerry Barnett
has referred to it as ‘Internet Censorship 1.0’, It seems that 2014 is
not so far away from
1984 in terms of the social and political struggles for the control of
the media landscape. Censorship is still the currency of the
contemporary political discourse.

Worries over
effects of media content and technologies are never far from the
headlines. When anxieties centre on protecting children and the
fortification of the social fabric, regulation often seems like
the first resort. The year 2014 will see the thirtieth anniversary of
the 1984 Video Recordings Act (VRA): this event offers the opportunity
to reflect on how and why concerns about individual media technologies
and particular media genres become so important
that campaigners and politicians can claim that ‘the very soul of the
nation’ is at stake. Using the VRA as a starting point, this conference
aims to critically examine the key issues in politics and campaigning
which shape calls for censorship. If new technologies
always spark old anxieties around ‘effects’ and propensities to cause
‘harm’, what might we learn from extant legislation and their
implementation? As we settle into the internet age and media on demand,
policing national media borders seems ever more futile,
yet the clamour for legislation to protect children and society shows no
signs of abating.We invite
submissions that explore issues relating to censorship which may be
specific to the history, implementation and legacies of the Video
Recordings Act but we also welcome papers which examine media
regulation/censorship in contemporaneous issues and their historical
antecedents. Their broader cultural contexts, which are national and
international in focus and which draw connections between

Suggested topics:CensorshipEvolving practices and technologies of media classification and/or censorship‘Problematic’ media culturesRegulation of representations of sex, gender and sexualitiesDigital and online censorshipOppositional voicesProtecting and questioning national bordersCampaigns and campaignersActivism/activists and the political arenaInternational narratives of censorshipBritish regulation in a global contextNational and international regulation/censorshipDocumentary and avant-gardeControversies around computer gamesHistory of contemporary film censorship/classificationAudiences and the social experiences of censorshipCensorship and the creation of communities of dissentRegulations and government policy

Proposals for individual papers or pre-constituted panels are welcomed. The submission deadline is 17th
January 2014 and notifications of acceptance will be made by the 31st January 2014.

Proposals
should include title, abstract (350 words), 3-5 key bibliographical
references, along with the name of the presenter, institutional
affiliation
and biographical information (100 words), and email.

Panel
organizers are asked to submit panel proposals including a panel title,
a short description of the panel and information on all the papers
following the guidelines listed above.

Panels may consist of three speakers with a maximum of 20 minutes speaking time each.All submissions, expressions of interest and enquiries should be sent to: